Houllier: Count us out

Manchester United and Chelsea maintained the pressure on Arsenal in the title race yesterday as Gerard Houllier admitted that Liverpool are reduced to fighting for fourth place.

A side missing the injured Michael Owen, who has been ruled out of England's friendly with Denmark on Sunday, went down to two Ryan Giggs goals in a 2-1 defeat at Anfield and Liverpool are now 11 points behind third-placed United. Chelsea were in stunning form at Stamford Bridge, thrashing Newcastle 5-0.

Houllier, who felt his side were unlucky not to be awarded a late penalty when Rio Ferdinand appeared to bring down Florent Sinama-Pongolle, said: 'Realistically, I think we are now playing for fourth. You never know what might happen. Football is a strange game. But sometimes there is a fine line between success and failure and at the moment we are stepping on the wrong side of it.

'I thought we deserved a draw. That would have been a fair result. But we were denied what was a clear penalty. I am not blaming the referee (Graham Poll)but if that had been at Old Trafford I think it would have been given.'

Houllier joked at any suggestion that he might now be under pressure, prompting the assembled media to reignite the speculation concerning his possible replacement.

'Martin O'Neill next time,' was the parting shot of the Frenchman, who this week celebrates five years at Anfield.

Last night he called for patience, insisting his side were still in a transitional period. 'I think you will see we are much better in the second half of the season,' said Houllier.

He confirmed that Owen's ankle ligament injury would stop him joining up with the England squad, but added: 'We hope he'll be available when we play Middlesbrough in a fortnight.'

Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted with United, who showed the composure to absorb Liverpool's early pressure before Giggs scored twice. 'You have to give full marks to all the players because their commitment was fantastic,' said Ferguson.'

Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri played down his side's championship aspirations.

He said: ' Frank Lampard and Damien Duff believe we can win the title but they are young. They don't know how long the season is.'

England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, who was at Stamford Bridge, said there was no point risking Owen for a friendly match.

Eriksson names his squad when he visits what will be the England team's headquarters for the European Championships in Lisbon today.